Judging Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State

Introduction

Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesHillary Clinton testifies about the Benghazi attack before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Jan. 23.

It’s been three months since Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state and two years before the presidential campaign for which she is the Democratic front runner before she has even decided whether to run. But House hearings on the terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed the American ambassador to Libya and three others have put her back in the spotlight.

The hearings have raised questions about her judgment and leadership in that incident. But what can be said about her tenure, overall, as the nation’s chief diplomat?